 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
©Kirton News 2025
Recipe for December
Dear Rachael, My girlfriend gave me a recipe from a slimming website to look at. I tried it and then thought it needed modifying slightly, to make it a Christmas cake, and when I had made it, we both thought I should send you the recipe!
As always, I am trying to make it simple, quick, easy, low calorie and low sugar.
Oh, and by the way, from getting the food processor out, to putting everything away, washed and dried, and taking the cake out of the oven, it took about 45 minutes!
Put 200 grams of rolled oats in a food processor and chop them, dry, to a fine, but grainy, powder (something like 20 seconds to a minute). Whilst the oats are still in the mixer and if you have room, try to add the other dry ingredients and mix as you go.
• 1 teaspoon baking powder.
•1 carrot - I used about a third of a 300g pack of prepared carrot batons (let someone else do the washing and preparing!)
• Four tbsps of mixed dried fruit.
• 1 apple (cooking or eating). Later, I tried a quince from my garden. Cut the apple into quarters and cut out the core and then add, unpeeled, to the mixer.
• 1 teaspoon of mixed spice (or more if you feel Christmassy!)
When mixed, put it into a bowl and mix in 3 eggs. I crack the eggs into another bowl, to make sure there is no shell, then whisk them gently with a fork before adding them. Mix the dry ingredients and eggs with a large (metal) spoon (as with the other recipes, you want to cut and fold) until combined.
If necessary, add a tbsp or two of (any) milk to make a fairly dry mix but which stays together in a rough ball.
I then split it into two and put each into a small foil tray. Surprisingly, when I had cooked them, they came free from the foil without greasing. There is no reason why you shouldn’t make one larger cake, but increase the time slightly if so.
Put onto a tray into an oven (I started from a cold fan oven) set at 180 C for 30 minutes. Both times I have done this recipe, I checked after 20 minutes and it was not cooked, so I gave them another 10 minutes and that was fine. It should pull away from the sides and be browned (NOT black) on top.
Whilst they are cooking, do the washing up and drying, and it should be about 45 minutes all told to make a Christmas Cake!
I am a diabetic Tea Totaller, but I would have thought adding some brandy to it afterwards (prick holes in it and let the brandy soak in) may make it more like a Christmas cake.
I made it again with quince. And I found a way of ‘icing’ one of the previous ones. This one I made with the same amount of oats, ‘one’ carrot, baking powder, 2 tsp mixed spice, 4 tbsp mixed, dried fruit. Then I put the mix into a bowl, and added the quince to the mixer. Cutting it this way, rather than grating, means that there is no need for milk, which the recipe I am basing this on grates the apple and carrot and then needs added milk.
Again, mix, put into two foil trays and bake as above.
These then tasted of marmalade (spice and quince gives the marmalade flavour). But I suppose cooking or eating apples would be just as good.
The ‘icing’ is the easiest I could find! Low fat Philadelphia or Laughing Cow soft cheeses, mixed with Canderel sweetener (I put in about a tbsp for a full pack of Philadelphia but it is a personal taste how much is used).
I have about 6 or 7 quinces left on my tree and I was wondering what to do with them. Christmas cakes, here we come! Best regards.
